Jack Peter Tyler: no ordinary little boy
by StormWolf10
Summary: A different take on the whole 'family' idea of the Doctor and Rose having a child. Let's face it, we all know that any child of the Doctor and Rose would never be normal, we just never perhaps considered it wouldn't be normal for a very human reason...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A slightly different take on the idea of the Doctor and Rose having a child. A little sad near the end. I got the idea in science class and it wouldn't stop bugging me... May do more than just this oneshot, depending on how well this goes down. **

It was inevitable. Rose Tyler had always known her son would be different. She just never expected it to be that obvious. She forced herself to smile as Jackie's friends made well-meaning- if a little hurtful- comments about Jack as he played with his father on the sitting room floor. The Doctor, of course, seemed oblivious to the comments Bev and Maureen were coming out with, but even Jackie looked a little uncomfortable with the conversation. Settling her head against the back of the sofa, Rose closed her eyes, feeling exhausted. It was no one's fault, of course; the Doctor was an amazing dad, and was very hands-on. But the truth of the matter was Rose was a twenty-one year old mother, barely prepared for motherhood, not to mention barely prepared to care for a disabled toddler. Jack Peter Tyler was everything the Doctor and Rose could ever have hoped for, and more; he had his mother's eyes and his father's wild hair, but he had been born with Down syndrome. The Time Lord genes he had inherited from his father had minimised it a bit, and made his facial features look pretty much normal, but it was still mosaic Down syndrome, and he'd never be as intelligent as his parents had expected a human/Time Lord child to be, but they loved him regardless.

"I 'eard that Down syndrome kids can't walk or talk for ages." Bev stated, watching little Jack carefully.

"Nah," the Doctor replied dismissively, grinning at his son "Jack's already started walking though he's a bit shaky still. Also, he can only really say stuff like 'mummy', 'daddy' and 'gran', and he hasn't quite got the hang of hand-eye co-ordination yet but he's doing very well."

Jack, however, was oblivious to the conversation going on around him as he focused solely on stacking the large wooden building blocks, the Doctor helping him.

"So soon? I mean, I know he's only partially Down syndrome, or whatever they call it, but surely he shouldn't be doing that so early on?" Maureen asked in confusion.

"Mosaic." Rose whispered in annoyance, opening her eyes.

"Pardon?" Maureen asked, frowning at the young woman.  
>"It's not called partial Down syndrome. It's mosaic Down syndrome." Rose replied, watching Jack with a small, blissful smile on her face.<p>

"Anyway, Jack's a little star, that's what he is." Jackie piped up.

"You're getting help with him?" Bev asked Rose.

Rose just grinned at the Doctor, who grinned back.

"Oh, we don't need help. We're getting along just fine. The Doctor knows of these teaching method thingies that help Jack learn things better and easier." Rose explained.

Both Maureen and Bev nodded in understanding.

"I must say I admire your courage; I really don't understand how you can cope with him." Maureen told Rose wistfully.

"To be honest with you, I couldn't imagine our lives without him." Rose replied quietly.

"He's one little kid to have you two as his parents. You're both so brave." Bev told Rose and the Doctor.

Rose smiled weakly.

"To be honest with you, it takes everything I've got some days to simply not fall apart." Rose answered quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, I was only planning for this to be a one-shot, but I was overwhelmed how well the initial story was received, so I decided to do another little chapter :)**

The Doctor sighed as Jack abandoned his teddy bear in favour of his father's sonic screwdriver yet again.

"No, Jack. Daddy's got to fix the TARDIS up." The Doctor told his young son gently as he tugged the tool from his son's hand.

Jack merely gazed up at his father, his brown eyes wide with confusion. The Doctor turned back to the wires he had been fixing, trying to ignore his growing guilt. However, as the Doctor had anticipated, Jack soon lost interest in the sonic screwdriver and returned his attention to his bear. This was one thing the Doctor was relieved at- Jack had a rather short attention span, although whether this was due to his Down syndrome or the fact he was just at that age was as of yet unknown to his parents. Glancing round at his son, the Doctor smiled as he saw Jack sprawled on his belly. Although he hated having the toddler in the control room with him while he was conducting maintenance, Rose really deserved- and needed- the rest; caring for Jack was both mentally and physically exhausting, and it was beginning to take its toll on Rose. This was because, in the last few weeks, Jack had begun walking and so needed even more supervision than before. Jack had been a sickly baby, often coming down with chest colds and flu and Rose had spent numerous nights sat beside his cot, watching him breathe. The Doctor regretted ever letting her near those Down Syndrome books; he knew Rose needed to know about any respiratory problems Jack may suffer, but the Doctor felt that the books had been quite blunt with the information rather than breaking it gently. The Doctor, however, was snapped out of his thoughts as Rose stumbled into the control room.

"Hey, you sleep alright?" The Doctor asked, pulling himself out from under the grating to pull Rose into a hug and kiss her gently.

"Yeah," Rose replied quietly "how was Jack?"

"Still after my sonic screwdriver." The Doctor replied in mock-annoyance, grinning.

Rose grinned back and pulled away from the Doctor to lift her son into her arms.

"Have you been a good boy for daddy?" Rose asked her son, grinning.

Jack giggled in response, and reached out to tug on Rose's hair. It wasn't for a few moments that the Doctor finally noticed the tears that were silently making their way down Rose's cheeks.

"Hey, come on, Rose. He's fine, Jack'll be fine. We can get through this, yeah?" The Doctor told her gently.

Rose nodded, leaning into him.

"Together?" she asked quietly, looking up at him.

Gulping, the Doctor nodded. It was times like these that he remembered just how young, just how _human_ Rose was.

"Together." He agreed softly, before kissing her and Jack on their foreheads and pulling them in for a hug.


End file.
